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Rise of the Reich
Start Date: January 30th 1933 End Date: January 14th, 1946 7 years before World War II The world struggles in the grip of a global depression. The 19th century empires of Europe have disintegrated, and the power vacuum they left behind has given rise to new, radical ideologies that threaten to destabilize all of Europe. The UK struggles to maintain its dispersed colonies, the United States and France turn inwards to restructure their economies, and the Soviet Union consolidates its internal power though ruthless oppression and widespread famine. Meanwhile, a new leader comes to power in Germany. Eager to reverse a decade of deprivation, and determined to vacate the Treaty of Versailles, Germany is poised to remilitarize and expand its borders. Who will fall victim to its quest for empire? Historical Comparison In the 1930s, conflicts separated the world's major nations into three camps. #Germany, Italy, Japan, and Nationalist Spain wanted to overthrow the world order using diplomacy, threats, and/or force. #The USSR, China, and Republican Spain strove to preserve the status quo through the same means. #Britain, France, and the US objected to the aggressiveness of the first group, but resisted alignment with the second. Only the USSR helped the Spanish Republican government in its civil war. Britain and France stayed neutral. Their citizens did not want bloodshed, while their governments did not want alliance with the Soviets. Germany and Italy sent "volunteer" brigades to test military technologies and tactics. On March 28 1939, victorious Nationalist forces entered Madrid. Germany's swift occupation of Austria on March 12, 1938, shocked the West. This Anschluss was justified by the rhetoric of self-determination; ethnic Germans had the right to unite under the Nazi flag. Western statesmen sought to appease Germany through diplomacy. These efforts culminated at the Munich Conference of September 1938, when Britain, France, and Italy transferred the Sudetenland - an ethnically German region in Czechoslovakia - to Germany, despite Czechoslovakian and Soviet opposition. Britain announced that the Sudetenland transfer would bring peace to Europe. This idealism shattered in March 1939, when Germany annexed half of Czechoslovakia and turned the other half into a puppet state. Japan's territorial aggressions proved equally blatant. Chinese patriotism pushed the unwilling Nationalist government into battle. In July 1937, a skirmish set off the Sino-Japanese War. By the spring of 1939, the world has seen Fascist victories in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Spain, and Japanese successes in China. Totalitarian states are on the march; the balance of global power has shifted into their hands. Key Countries China Manchuria is lost, and an uneasy peace now holds between your nation and the hated Japanese. Alas, they are not your only adversary. Within your borders the various warlords have left the national government of China weak; it's industrial level far behind that of other nations. Now the Chinese Communist Party is growing in power, convinced that socialism is the best form of government for the Middle Kingdom. The Japanese threaten the blood of your people, while the Communist Chinese seek their allegiance. With barely the forces to protect against one, which will it be? Can you seek aid from other nations? If so, who will help you oppose your internal and external threats? France The Great War was a hollow victory for France. The massive loss of manpower and industry only magnified the effects of the current global depression. Your colonies in Africa and Indo-China have been a lodestone in recent years. Internal political strife has further slowed rebuilding. But now new threats are emerging closer to home. Both Germany and Italy have adopted radical fascist ideologies. With an Italian dictator wanting to create a New Roman Empire, and a new German chancellor rearming a rejuvenated Germany, can you muster the resources and manpower to maintain your once great empire or will France once again be a stage in the theater of war? Germany You've just been named Chancellor of Germany. After a decade of economic woe and humiliation caused by the Treaty of Versailles, it was easy achieve power by fomenting the nationalism washing through Germany. Now you can begin your plans to dominate Europe, and crush the hated communists to the east. But Germany is weak. To succeed you must rebuild your armies, develop industrial might, and stockpile resources for the conflicts to come. You know rearmament will not sit well with the leaders of nearby nations, all of whom have the Great War still fresh in their minds. Are European leaders really willing to go to war again to stop you? Can you stall them while you create an invincible army? Italy The fears of a socialist uprising similar to the Soviet Union have given you total control over Fascist Italy. Now you must seek to expand your empire and build your under-developed industry. Where to strike? Ethiopia is a likely target. Albania? Yugoslavia? Perhaps even Greece? To the north, the new leadership in Germany has adopted your fascist ideology. They could be a powerful ally in your quest for empire. But how should you proceed without creating a war with France and England? The wrong alliance could lead to ruin, but the right one could result in a reborn Roman Empire. Japan Manchuria is yours! With this victory, Japan now has some of the resources within its borders to move out of its economic depression. But how long will it be until these newly acquired resources are not enough to fuel the fires of Japanese industry? With the Chinese government now distracted by a communist uprising within, the invasion of the rest of China seems even more sweet. Should you build your land forces and conquer the rest of China, or continue to modernize your powerful navy until it rivals Britain and the United States? Resource-rich colonies lie spread to your south and west. Will new conflicts close to home distract the UK and the Dutch and leave their imperial colonies vulnerable to conquest? United Kingdom Although in decline since the Great War, your nation is the still most powerful empire on Earth, and your many colonies have helped reduce the economic effects of depression for your people. But those colonies require all of your attention, and keep your superior navy widely dispersed. Meanwhile, new threats are brewing in neighboring Europe, a result of the rise of the extremist ideologies of Communism and Fascism. Germany is beginning to remilitarize in contravention of the Treaty of Versailles, and Italy has its own imperial ambitions. Your far eastern colonies are threatened by regional instability and the growing naval power of Japan. Can you contain the threats from across the globe? Or will one or more rivals emerge to challenge your pre-eminent empire? United States With America still neck deep in the Great Depression, your focus must be to rebuild your economy. Your navy is strong but out-dated, and your army weak and lacking modern armor. Should you invest in new forces at once, or will that drag down your fragile first steps towards economic recovery? You are determined to avoid being drawn once more into the political intrigues of Europe--if you can. Will America persevere on its own side of the world, or will the threat from foreign nations seeking to expand their power through conquest force America to ready itself for war once again? USSR The massive industrial expansion you set in motion has been wildly successful, but at the cost of millions of lives due to widespread famine and brutal purges. Variations of your revolutionary Communist ideology is taking hold in other nations, including China and Spain. In Europe, Germany and Italy have popularized another radical new ideology: Fascism. How can you help spread both your ideology, and your borders, without causing the Fascists or the western democracies to ally against you? Can you use these opposing ideologies against one another, and have the USSR emerge as the dominant force in Europe?